ADHD in the News - June 19, 2014

A weekly news digest** from the National Resource Center on ADHD: A Program of CHADD

"Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have reduced iron levels in the brain, which normalize with stimulant medication, new research suggests...The researchers also found that ADHD patients with a history of psychostimulant medication treatment had brain iron levels comparable with those of control individuals, suggesting that brain iron levels may increase to normal levels with psychostimulant treatment..." Full Story

"Brain iron levels offer a potential biomarker in the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and may help physicians and parents make better informed treatment decisions, according to new research published online in the journal Radiology..." Full Story

Suicidal behaviour not increased by ADHD drugs, research concludes (ScienceDaily, June 18, 2014)

"A new register-based study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that drug therapy for ADHD does not entail an increased risk of suicide attempts or suicide, as was previously feared. The results are published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ)..." Full Story

ADHD Mothers More Likely to Have Children with ADHD, Autism (Bioscience Technology, June 13, 2014)

"Recently published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, the study is the first to find that mothers with ADHD are six times more likely to have children diagnosed with ADHD and two-and-a-half times more likely to have children diagnosed with ASD than moms who do not have ADHD..." Full Story

"Researchers at the Boston Children's Hospital worked with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and found early musical training enhances the areas of the brain responsible for executive functioning..." Full Story

ADHD and Learning – A Different Approach for Different Minds (PsychCentral, June 18, 2014)

"With a university or college graduation rate of 5% or less for young ADHD adults, clearly today’s post-secondary institutions have a long way to go before successfully engaging the special minds of ADHD students. With academic aspirations thwarted, many young ADHD adults go on to test the entrepreneurial waters. All too often, their forays into business end in failure as well. This September 2014, in an effort to provide a new option, co-founders Tom Bergeron and Rick Fiery will launch InventiveLabs, a third option, in Beverly, MA..." Full Story

"As a veteran reporter who now has her own TV show on OWN, Lisa Ling has covered everything from criminal informants to exorcism. It was while filming an episode of “Our America With Lisa Ling” on the topic of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), however, that she made a personal discovery..." Full Story

Shire to Test Its ADHD Drug in 4- to 5-Year-Olds in U.S. (Medscape, June 16, 2014)

"Shire Plc has agreed to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration request to study its stimulant Vyvanse in preschool children as concern rises over the diagnosis and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the drugmaker said on Thursday..." Full Story